Denis Wick mouthpieces

[Donn]

The goofy looking "Heritage" series:


The "Classic" has a more conical/flaring external shape - a bit like a French horn mouthpiece. I bet that's what you have, if goes back more than a decade.

[MikeW]

To my somewhat cloudy memory, the external shape of the Wick mouthpieces seems to have been as follows:

The Original pieces (back in the late seventies, early eighties) had the funnel-shaped exterior, "skeletonised" around the throat (as much metal as practical removed). I had a gold 2 back then, but eventually switched to a gold 5, trying to fix a tuning problem. I experimented for a year or three with the 5, comparing it to a Bach32e: Eventually gave up and fixed the tuning by having the main bugle cut, and got me a 3.

The Heritage had the "goofy" shape, same as the modern pieces (with weight removed behind the rim), and was part silver, part gold plated - I never had any of those.

The box marked "Classic" for a short while contained the same shape as Heritage, but the Heritage was half silver, half gold, whereas those early "Classic" models were all silver. The Classic then switched to the current model, which is mostly funnel shaped, but looks to me like it has more metal around the cup and throat than I remember on the Original: I seem to remember it being touted as a "Classic" with improvements. I think around that time the Heritage became available in a choice of either silver or part gold (??)

The used 3 I bought from Dillon's is Heritage shaped and all silver, so it has to be either an early "Classic" or a later silver-only "Heritage".

I am currently torn between the "Heritage" shaped silver Wick3, and a stainless steel Helleberg from Kelly (which has a similar "goofy" rim). For what it's worth, the stainless Helleberg is at least as comfortable as the gold Wick used to be, and I seem to be able to push it a lot harder before losing control.

[Donn]

I suppose my "Heritage" 2L came out of that transitional period. I don't remember if the box said anything about it - I don't remember those names from that time - but I know I had no way to expect what I got. I'm not saying the rim is goofy. It looks like a slightly wider, flatter rim, though the comparison is hampered by a heavy coat of nail polish on my 5 after the thin Denis Wick plating wore through. That's a functionally significant difference, though. I was just referring to the odd can shaped body, and the shallow rim overhang.

It would be interesting to see an earlier funnel shape with material removed around the throat. My "Classic" 5 has more material at the top of the shank than the "Heritage" 2L has.

[iiipopes]

Having had several Wick mouthpieces over the years, the older "funnel" shaped mouthpieces already have much material removed in the throat region. Nothing more can be removed without damaging the integrity of the throat. The thick rim, if desired, can be turned down so it is not quite so thick, vertically (when you stand the mouthpiece on its rim). But...

The "Heritage" design, although some call it "goofy," to me is superior. With the thin rim, for me it has a quicker response. YMMV. Also, for me, the little bit more brass around the throat stabilizes dynamic extremes. Again, YMMV.

That said, the only differences are external. Each model, between the "funnel" and the "Heritage" versions, have the same rim, same cup, same throat, same backbore, for which I can vouch for, not only from "specs," but having played the 1, 1L, 2, 2L, 3, and 3L of each.

[Donn]

the older "funnel" shaped mouthpieces already have much material removed in the throat region. Nothing more can be removed without damaging the integrity of the throat.

It would be interesting to see a picture of one of these. Sounds very different from my 5, but I see the current Classic has a notch cut out under the throat, at the top of the shank, unlike mine which is an uninterrupted taper like an old Conn 2. Looks to me like that notch makes it about equal to the Heritage at that spot. Not that it makes any difference.

[Steve Sykes]

I absolutely love my Wick 2L - I've played a 2 (& later the 2L) from being 13 years old - I'm now 59! It gives me everything I need on my EEb tuba. I must have tried every mouthpiece under the sun at one time or another but I still keep returning to my DW2L.
I just keep getting it re-plated (I also have the rim gold plated) - my current mouthpiece has been in service for 37 years! It fits my face well.

[MikeW]

the older "funnel" shaped mouthpieces already have much material removed in the throat region. Nothing more can be removed without damaging the integrity of the throat.

That fits the DW2 I bought in 1980: "skelitonized" was the buzz word at the time - I think that was when they added the notch around the throat. As far as I can see from the Denis Wick site it is nearly identical to what is currently offered as the "Classic", except that the notch around the throat is probably different: on my old mouthpiece the notch has a semicircular cross section, and in the pictures of current models it looks like a sharper v shape.

I also just noticed that my DW 3 doesn't match the pictures of the Heritage mouthpiece: the flange around the rim on my MP is thicker (a bit like the one on the Aaron Tindall model), and the bottom of the cup is less rounded-out, so there's a tad more metal around the throat. The current catalog doesn't list any small-euro shanks in the Heritage series, so I think this must be the intermediate "Classic" model, from before they switched to the current "Classic" (which is fairly close to the 1980 model). Interestingly, my intermediate 3 also has a raised ridge around the throat, instead of a notch - wasn't there a patent many years ago for a raised ring that adds mass around the throat, for "stability" ? I once stumbled into it on the web when looking for something else, but I can't find it now that I want to see it again.

I notice the Heritage and the Aaron Tindall model both have small ridges around the throat, so maybe we've gone full circle, and adding mass around the throat is the new black?

There was also a phase when the Heritage model had a large "H" engraved on it, which doesn't show up in the current catalog, so presumably that has gone, too...

But for now, I'll persevere with my new stainless Kellyberg - as others have mentioned, it feels very much like gold plate, and it's starting to make a nice sound for me, so I think it may be a keeper (or maybe a stainless clone of the DW 3? ...)

[MaryAnn]

The goofy looking "Heritage" series:


The "Classic" has a more conical/flaring external shape - a bit like a French horn mouthpiece. I bet that's what you have, if goes back more than a decade.

Mine does not look like that picture....at all. It looks a lot like, but not exactly, this one: http://www.wwbw.com/Denis-Wick-Classic- ... AsqJ8P8HAQ" target="_blank